Railroads and Economic Development
| Beginning in the early 1870s, the railroads became most
important to the economy of Oklahoma. The "Iron Horse" helped open the
region to the outside world. At the same time, those ribbons of rails helped open the
outside world to Sooner country. The first railroad to build through Oklahoma was the
Missouri-Kansas-Texas (1870-1872). It was called The
Katy. It followed the old Texas Road and ran through Choctaw, Creek and
Cherokee country. The Santa Fe Railroad was also important. It ran north-south through the
middle of Oklahoma. Other lines included the St. Louis & San Francisco, which cut
through the Choctaw Nation running southwesterly, and the Chicago Rock Island &
Pacific Railroad, which was west of the Santa Fe and ran north-south. |
Historic Santa Fe Train Depot in Shawnee (Photo Courtesy of Fred Marvel, Oklahoma Department of Tourism) |
Because of rail development, Oklahoma products such as beef, pork, cotton, corn and
wheat could reach the national markets. Also, the goods produced by the rest of the nation
could reach the Oklahoma market. Immigrants form the east and Europe in search
of a better life could also travel more easily to Oklahoma. In addition, the Iron Horse sped the growth of
the coal mining industry.
James J. McAlester from Arkansas learned of the coal beds in the
Choctaw Nation. He moved to the crossroads where the Texas and California trails
met. He established a store there in the heart of the area’s coal beds. He married
into the Chickasaw Nation. That made him a citizen of the tribe. As a citizen he could
have as much coal as he could mine. In 1872, The Katy reached his store. He sold his first
coal to The Katy. He then used the railway to ship coal to all points east of the
Mississippi River, shipping especially to eastern factories.
| A settlement grew up around his coal mine. It developed into today’s
city of McAlester. Later, other businessmen went into the coal business. The industry
became one of the biggest in Oklahoma. The Katy, itself, became involved in coal mining.
The railroad bought the Osage Mining and Coal Company. Because of the coal mines,
Oklahoma population became more diverse. Most coal miners recruited by the
companies came from outside the region. Italians, Russians, Poles, Germans and other
European immigrants worked in the mines. These immigrants accounted for
two-thirds of all the coal miners in Oklahoma. |
The Hailey-Ola Coal Company in Pittsburg County
(Photo courtesy of the Archives & manuscripts Division of the Oklahoma Historical
Society) |
Eastern Oklahoma, the area where most of the
Indians of the Civilized Tribes settled, was becoming increasingly Americanized in the
1870s and 1880s. Railroading, mining, the cattle frontier, merchants, mechanics, farmers
and greater numbers of white and black sharecroppers and tenant farmers; all
those developments meant that the land of the Civilized Tribes would soon be overrun by
others. And what of the Plains tribes who lived in Western Oklahoma?
Additional Resources
Study Guide Questions:
- What was the Katy?
- Who was James J. McAlester and what did he do?
- Name four immigrant groups who came to Oklahoma to work in the
coal mines.
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